In campaign speeches on Saturday, Herman Cain said he would build a deadly electrified fence on the border with Mexico and Representative Michele Bachmann vowed to make English the government’s official language.

If elected president, Michele Bachmann said over the weekend, she would favor reinstating the ban on openly gay or lesbian people serving in the military, a policy known as ''don't ask, don't tell.'' Former Senator Rick Santorum has said similar...

The disgust with Washington politics has led to new calls for change, and that old saw, calling for a new party and centrist presidential candidate, is gaining currency. It's an idea whose time has not come yet.

August 1, 2011, Monday

Yesterday's column on the weak historical relationship between the unemployment rate and presidential performance generated a mostly favorable reaction. But I also got a few replies wondering how to reconcile these findings against the claims, made...